What makes history... history. One can look at it as repeating cycles of human drama. It can be seen as class struggle, social and/or technological progress, paradigm shifts, or clashes of civilizations or ideologies. But one popular one is the "Great Man" Theory. In the words of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), "The history of the world …
Continue reading The “Not-so-Great Man” Theory of Missions History
This is a long post so here is the short version. It is my contention that Chick Tracts (for those familiar with them) are not actually evangelistic tracts. Rather they are fan service created for consumption of and support by their real target-- Conservative Evangelical Christians. One channel I like to watch on the Web …
Pictures are important... sort of. In missions, pictures are valuable because they inform in a manner that words just don't. With digital media and cellphones with high quality digital cameras and GBs of memory, it is easy to litter the world with photos. But sometimes... just don't take pictures. Or, perhaps don't post pictures. I …
Two or three years ago, I was reading Rodger Bassham's book on Mission Theology. The full name of the book is Mission Theology: 1948-1975 Years of Worldwide Creative Tension: Ecumenical, Evangelical and Roman Catholic It speaks of the development of Ecumenical or Conciliar missions during this time especially and how Evangelical missions broke away in …
<Background: A friend of mine was visiting people in the neighborhood here in Baguio. He met a man who is part of a religious group here in the Philippines known as Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). This group was founded over here. Theologically, it is basically Arian. Soteriologically, it is Particularist (meaning salvation is mediated through …